RetroUI® Pro for Windows 8

What is RetroUI® Pro?

Thinix RetroUI® Pro is easy to use software that allows you to skip the Start screen in Windows 8, brings back the start button and start menu, makes the taskbar visible from the Start screen, allows you to resize Windows Store apps, allows you to block Windows HotCorners, and includes TabletView. RetroUI Pro makes Windows 8 far easier to use with features like allowing users to press the Windows key to return to the classic Windows desktop at any time. Multiple display users can easily span Windows 8 Apps across more than one monitor. Try a free 7-day trial of RetroUI Pro.

Features

Easy to Install, Fun to use

RetroUI is designed to be easy to install and fun to use. It's designed to bring back the features and functionality users are accustomed to from Windows XP, and Windows 7, but also allow users to fully utilize the security, Apps and other great features of Windows 8. To make it easy to learn how RetroUI works, we have an on-line tutorial available here: Getting Acquainted with RetroUI Pro | PDF

RetroUI Start Menu

RetroUI not only brings back the Start menu, we've enhanced it! The new touch-friendly design works as well with a finger as it does with a mouse, and brings back all the functions you have used in previous versions of Windows. But it doesn't stop there - our reimagined start menu allows you to pin applications and save them as touch-friendly buttons. It also has integrated Windows 8 features allowing you to easily; return to the Windows 8 (Metro) Start Screen, open the Charms Bar, Search, and open Task Switcher (so you can quickly toggle to any running classic Windows application or Windows 8 (Metro) App.

Skip Metro

With Windows 8, Microsoft replaced the traditional desktop and concept of the Start Menu with a full-screen 'Start Screen'. Normally when you login to a computer running Windows 8, this is the first thing you see. Thinix RetroUI® allows users to bypass the Windows 8 Start screen (Metro UI) and automatically return to a classic Windows desktop* after login. Users can then still return to the Windows 8 Start screen and can run Windows 8 Store (Metro) Apps. RetroUI Pro supports bypassing the Start screen from cold-boot, login from locked computer, automatic login, as well as logins over Remote Desktop (RDP) connections. With RetroUI Pro installed, users see the classic desktop at login.

Block HotCorners & Charms Bar

Windows 8 features hidden features, that are accessed by moving your mouse to the corners of the screen. These features make perfect sense for tablet PC users, but on desktops and laptops, they may not make sense or may be confusing to long-time Windows users. With RetroUI Pro, you can simply check a checkbox in the Settings application and disable the Hotcorners and Charms bar. Even with these features disabled, RetroUI allows you to fully utilize the Windows 8 desktop, run Windows 8 Apps, and use every feature of the Windows 8 computer.

RetroUI Enforce

With the patent-pending technology of RetroUI Enforce, you can now 'force' the Windows 8 Start Screen and Windows Store apps to run in a way that allows the classic desktop, taskbar, and start button to remain visible. Windows Store apps can even run inside of a resizable window! You can easily toggle between full screen and windowed mode by pressing [F12] and can run apps at any size and position you prefer. Window positions are automatically stored and recalled as you open and close Windows 8 Store (Metro) Apps. With Enforce, you take charge of Windows 8, and can easily switch back to the classic Windows desktop anytime by simply clicking the Taskbar from within any App or while the Start Screen is running. This eliminates 98% of the confusion with Windows 8, and makes it Easy & Fun!

Easy Keyboard Shortcuts

RetroUI Pro includes hotkey technology which allows you to assign simple keys on the keyboard to make Windows 8 easier. Users can now simply press the Windows key on the keyboard to return to the classic desktop at any time. RetroUI includes many other features which make Windows 8 easier. For example, without RetroUI, in order to close a Windows Store App you need to click the top of the App and drag it all the way to the bottom of the screen. This action makes sense on a tablet PC, but on a desktop or laptop, it is confusing for most Windows users. With RetroUI Pro, you can press the Windows Key + Down Arrow to simply close the Windows Store App. This and many other hotkeys are integrated in RetroUI, and the settings application allows you to easily enable/disable these features or even re-assign the hotkeys so they don't conflict with other software running on your system. Here is a printable reference of RetroUI Pro keyboard shortcuts. Enforce Keyboard Shortcuts Printable Reference

Multi-Language

RetroUI Pro is a native multi-language application and currently supports 33-languages. RetroUI Pro now fully supports QWERTY, AZERTY as well as many other keyboard layouts necessary for Russian, Arabic and Asian languages

Software you can trust

RetroUI Pro is a digitally signed application, which doesn't modify the core security settings or violate the security of Windows 8. It contains no spyware, adware, malware or viruses. Software you can trust from a company with 28-years of industry experience

7-day Fully Functional Free Trial

Enterprise Features

We like to say that RetroUI Pro is first and foremost designed around providing a great user experience (Ux) for the computer user. However, it has been architected from the ground-up to include Enterprise class functionality such as inheritance, command-line deployment and management, import and export of pinned favorites, support for multi-monitor installations and much more. RetroUI has flexible licensing to provide the level of support needed for personal, business, government, military and educational applications. RetroUI Pro, is available in 32-bit and 64-bit versions, and supports Windows 8, Windows 8 Professional, Windows 8 Enterprise, and Windows Server 2012. Note that Windows 8 RT (for ARM processors is not supported.

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Thinix RetroUI® Pro allows you to skip the Start screen in Windows 8, brings back the start button and start menu, makes the taskbar visible from the Start screen, allows you to resize Windows Store apps, allows you to block Windows HotCorners, and includes TabletView. RetroUI Pro makes Windows 8 far easier to use with features like allowing users to press the Windows key to return to the classic Windows desktop at any time.

Windows 8.1 Users: this version of RetroUI® Pro is not compatible with Windows 8.1, Click here a compatible version

RetroUI Pro version 3.2.0

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You are downloading the 32-bit version of RetroUI Pro (Show MD5)MD5: 46723121b9b76da6d831af9e8920eb32You are downloading the 64-bit version of RetroUI Pro (Show MD5)MD5: 9892cce15e537b8e7a0be275ec18b942

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Note: Installers can be used as a fully functional 7-day free trial and for the licensed (purchased) version of the software. This version of RetroUI Pro is compatible with Windows 8.0 (and does not work with Windows 8.1). You must uninstall prior versions before upgrading.

Choose the pricing model appropriate for you

RetroUI Pro is offered in a version for Windows 8 and a separate version for Windows Server 2012. The consumer licenses are not authorized for use in business, education, government, or military applications. Also keep in mind that the consumer licenses have a lower level of support, without access to email support or upgrades. Only the Windows Server licenses will work with the Windows Server 2012 version of RetroUI Pro.

License good for only (1) consumer-use PC. Support is available through forums and knowledge base only.

License good for (3) consumer-use PCs. Support is available through forums and knowledge base only.

License good for only (1) business-use PC. Support is available for 1 Year via email, and indefinitely via forums and knowledge base.

License good for only (1) business-use PC. Support is available for 3 Years via email, and indefinitely via forums and knowledge base.

License good for (1) education-use PC. Support is available for 1 Year via email, and indefinitely via forums and knowledge base.

License good for (1) education-use PC. Support is available for 3 Years via email, and indefinitely via forums and knowledge base.

*Updates: Product updates refer to new versions to the existing major (reference release) version of software, and do not include upgrades to newer major versions. Updates generally provide fixes that enhance stability and compatibility. For example, an update would change RetroUI from version 2.2.0 to version 2.3.0

**Upgrades: Product upgrades refer to new versions that change the major (reference release) version of software. Upgrades generally provide new features unavailable in prior versions. For example, an upgrade would change RetroUI from version 2.4.0 to version 3.0.0

Requirements

Windows 8 version 9200 or later. RetroUI Pro for Windows 8 works with the official release versions of Windows 8, Windows 8 Pro, or Windows 8 Enterprise. Please make sure you download the correct x86 (32-bit) or x64 (64-bit) hardware version. Windows 8 RT (for ARM based systems) is NOT supported

Classic Desktop

Microsoft included a traditional desktop which is similar to Windows 7 within Windows 8. However, they designed Windows 8 to require users to first go to the Windows 8 Start Screen (Metro UI) before anything else. RetroUI Pro eliminates the manual process of exiting out of the Live Tiles desktop and returning to the classic desktop every login. However, the classic desktop in Windows 8 does not include a start menu, RetroUI Pro includes and brings back the Start Button, and Start menu, as well as making the Taskbar visible when the Start Screen and Windows 8 Apps are visible.

Limitations

When returning from a Windows lock screen, if a Metro style application is running, RetroUI Pro will not close the Metro app. RetroUI Pro is designed and tested to work with Windows 8 RTM version - 9200.win8_rtm.120725-1247, and later. RetroUI Pro will not work with Windows 8 RT (for ARM processors). RetroUI is not compatible and does not work with the developer and consumer previews of Windows 8. Registered users of RetroUI Pro will be able to download updates (commercial, educational, and non-profit licenses will also receive upgrades for 1 year) to RetroUI Pro. However, in the event that Microsoft removes the ability or somehow completely prevents RetroUI Pro from functioning by releasing future builds, service packs or patches, Thinix cannot control these things and therefore doesn't assert that RetroUI Pro will be compatible with other future versions of Windows 8. RetroUI Pro supports multiple users on a single machine and supports individualized settings for each user on the system.

Version 3.1.9 (Released on May 14, 2013)

Version 3.1.8 (Released on May 7, 2013)

Note RetroUI Pro v3.1.8 corrects a few small bugs in the settings application which were introduced in v3.1.7, and corrects a minor issue with search. v3.1.8 is mature and stable

Fix Fixed visual bug in Settings app where scroll bar was off the page in Windows 7 Start Menu Settings. This bug did not permit users to modify all Start menu settings because the settings were not visible within the settings application.

Fix Fixed visual bug in Settings app where scroll bar was off the page in Enforce Keyboard Shortcuts. This bug did not permit users to modify all function keys because the settings were not visible within the settings application.

Fix Fixed bug where search results cache was not updating when new software is installed.

Version 3.1.7 (Released on April 24, 2013)

New Search optimization now allows searching for file names such as CMD (cmd.exe), or other file names that do not correlate to the application name

Fix Corrected bug where Enforce did not start when Modern UI Start menu was selected.

Fix Corrected bug where deselecting ‘Show Metro Apps in the Start Menu’ in the settings application did not fully disable Metro App enumeration.

Version 3.1.6 (Released on April 5, 2013)

Fix Correct minor icon alignment issue. If the taskbar was docked left or right and the taskbar icon size was set to small, improper padding caused the icon to be incorrectly centered.

Version 3.1.5 (Released on April 4, 2013)

New Includes LogonAnimationTool.exe which allows users to easily turn-off the Windows 8 tutorial which runs each time a new user logs in

Update Functionality related to Enterprise deployment of RetroUI Pro

New Tightly integrated with RetroUI Enterprise Deployment Tool v3.1.5 which is now available to Business and Education license holders. In Enterprise applications, imaging technology is often used to create a base-image and then clone that image onto multiple PCs. This technology can be used on stand-alone PCs or can be used in the process used to create a master base image which is used on multiple PCs. With this, multiple users on each PC can inherit customized settings and customized pinned favorites

New Implemented new technology to prompt each new user on a PC if they want the Start button added to their Taskbar. That functionality was recently removed from RetroUI, to correct a bug that did not allow users to answer ‘no’ to the do you want a Start button question. This fix now fully fixes both issues, and allows RetroUI Pro to prompt new users as they login for the first time if they want a Start button

New Added functionality to the Start button to not allow right-click/properties if the configuration is locked

Fix Switch-user bug in Windows 8 Standard

Fix Close Start menu after sleep was selected from the Start menu. This corrected other issues resulting from Start menu not being closed

Fix Issue with Taskbar not refreshing in certain situations

Update User experience with the RetroUI Start menu and TabletView buttons open/close behavior. Now, if Start menu is open and TabletView button is clicked it will open TabletView, and vise-versa

Update Startup which makes the Start menu available more quickly and addresses an issue with a black-screen freeze that could occur immediately after login if the Start button was clicked multiple times before the Start menu was fully initialized

Update Logoff option in the Start menu to close the start menu prior to sending the logoff command

Update Addressed and partially corrected an issue resulting in the first Start button click after boot being lost in certain situations

Version 3.1.4 (Released on Mar 26, 2013)

Fix Corrected issue with TabletView icon in the Taskbar being clipped (cut-off) when the taskbar is located on the left or right sides of the screen.

Fix Corrected a sorting issue in the All Programs view in the Start menu. This caused applications with upper case and lower case names to be sorted independently. This update corrects the sorting issue.

Version 3.1.3 (Released on Mar 21, 2013)

Fix Implemented a critical fix, which affected the performance of RetroUI Pro. In certain situations such as, screen mirroring, some gaming software, or conferencing (GoToMeeting) was active would result in poor frame-rates and/or choppy graphics. This issue made the screen capture erratic. This correction makes the RetroUI Start menu more responsive & fully corrects a key issue that affected system stability. For this reason, we recommend that users upgrade to this version when possible.

New Implemented new technology allowing RetroUI Pro to start faster from a cold boot.

New Users can now right click the Start button or the TabletView icon to open the RetroUI settings application.

Fix Corrected an issue when switching between a local user session and an RDP session where the shutdown options in the Start menu would not refresh.

Update RetroUI Icon used for the Start button changed to button-style.

Update Windows 8 Store App technology.

Version 3.1.2 (Released on Mar 13, 2013)

New Added a new feature allowing the user to set the default shutdown action. Options include: Shutdown, Restart, Log off, Sleep, or Lock. These settings observe group policies and also change dynamically within an RDP session just as they do within Windows 7.

New Added a new feature which allows the user to specify the number of pinned items to show in the start menu. This option can make the Start menu taller to accommodate more pinned items in the Start menu on high resolution monitors. For example on a 1920x1200 display – (30) items can be displayed without needing to scroll up/down to find pinned favorites.

New Added caching technology to the Start menu, allowing the Start menu to start, up to 80% faster than v3.0.x. This setting helps even low power devices with large numbers of applications to load in just seconds.

Fix Adjusted Search settings within the Start menu to wait before initiating auto-search. This allows users more time to complete typing their search query before the search is automatically initiated.

Fix Help balloons within RetroUI Settings app to be more consistent.

Fix Corrected an issue in Enforce, where opening a Metro App then closing the App, then re-opening the same Metro App caused the App not to be properly resized by Enforce.

Fix Corrected transparency issue in the Start menu where clicking the whitespace next to an item in the all programs view didn’t open the application.

Fix Corrected issue where the Start menu was appearing in Alt-Tab list.

Fix Corrected minor issue where task-switcher was not activated correctly by the button in the Start menu.

Version 3.1.1 (Released on Mar 6, 2013)

Note RetroUI Pro v3.1.1 features an internally redesigned Start menu which loads faster and consumes fewer system resources. It also allows users of slower computers to disable showing Metro Apps, but still allows those apps to be pinned – making it faster when used on slower hardware. Enterprise customers will also be interested that Metro Apps can now be disabled if Metro Apps are not needed by end users.

New Enterprise customers can now edit the Start menu configuration file and can set a state of ‘locked’ which prevents end users from adding, removing or rearranging items in the Start menu.

New Features significant internal improvements and optimizations in the Start Menu which is now faster & uses up to 35% fewer system resources.

New Splash screen which indicates Start Menu is loading to the end-user.

New Adding blank buttons in TabletView, user experience improvement.

New Added configuration file option for debug/logging.

New Changed .ini file values to allow splash screen maximum on-screen time to be specified if desired.

New Added ability to not show Metro Apps within the Start Menu. This allows users who do not wish to enumerate or pin Windows 8 Store (Metro) Apps to disable this feature. This feature is useful on some devices where App enumeration causes the Start menu to load slowly. Apps which are pinned before this feature is disabled, will remain pinned and can be used as normal. Using this feature, Enterprise customers can control which apps are available to end users in the Start menu.

Fix Enhanced enterprise feature of locked configuration files that allowed users to unpin items from the Start menu or TabletView even if the start menu was locked from the all programs view.

Fix Minor issue with Enforce where hotkey to save window position was not enabled.

Fix Speed issue enumerating Metro apps, now 50% faster.

NoteWho should upgrade to v3.1.1? - We recommend all users of RetroUI Pro to upgrade to v3.1.1 when they have time Users who are using RetroUI Pro v3.0.x who haven’t experienced any performance issues don’t need to immediately upgrade, but should know that v3.1.1 uses up to 35% fewer resources and loads up to 50% faster. It also provides a new feature that allows you to turn off Metro App enumeration in the Start menu, so if you are not interested in having Metro Apps in the Start menu you can easily disable them and still have full access to ‘All Metro Apps’ via the Start Menu.

Version 3.0.2 (Released on Feb 12, 2013)

Notev3.0.2 has only a few minor changes from v3.0.0 / v3.0.1, there is little reason to update to 3.0.2 from 3.0.0 or 3.0.1 unless you are having problems installing RetroUI Pro. The primary reason for this update was to release a patch that corrects issues where some machines were installing to the root of one of the drives, such as c:\ or f:\ instead of c:\program files\

Fix Changed installer manifest to correct a rare problem that installed RetroUI to an incorrect location.

Fix Modified system service to improve resiliency in registry handling, this automatically detects and corrects erroneous registry entries created when RetroUI incorrectly installed to the wrong path.

Fix Tweaked Enterprise lock functionality, so that the Start menu will recognize and enforce a locked status. This allows enterprise deployments where end-users are prevented from modifying the start menu.

Version 3.0.1 (Released on Feb 8, 2013)

Note v3.0.1 has only a few minor changes from v3.0.0, there is little reason to update to 3.0.1 from 3.0.0

Version 2.2.1 (Relased on Dec 5, 2012)

Fix Corrected issue where Hotcorner setting was not being saved or read by the RetroUI Settings application (this was a minor bug which caused a major problem in that the block hotcorners feature did not work in v2.2.0).